The Creativity (R)Evolution
Denise R. Jacobs
UX Week
San Francisco, CA
12 September 2014

SQUEEEEEE!!!!!

@denisejacobs
#uxweek
#creativityrevolution

Get the slides:
bit.ly/uxweek-cr

When 1 ≠ 1

Darwin’s wing man
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drthompson/3689420515/

A Sneeze of laughter
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/girls-laughing-uganda-pod/

Course change
Photo: Denise Jacobs

Today. Now.

Conferences = potential for change
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toprankblog/2280204274/

Ideas are sparked
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjliew/1286367571/

New social networks

The initial excitement about the new
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ableman/543078380/

Taken over by old habits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/2311904560/

How to take it home? Sustain it? Continue it?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debord/4932655275/

Photo by Derek Kearney
About me

The Creative Dose.com

is key
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designandtechnologydepartment/4771136128/

I’m not the only one who thinks so…
http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/the-time-creativity-poll/

A Creativity (R)Evolution!

All gatherings are opportunities
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stella12/7045899425

Nurture the Creative Spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/2668216943/

The Roots of (R)Evolution

Creative? Me! Yes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/3036598475/ &http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/3135103537/

Creative? Child, please

Creative? Um, maybe?

“Creativity is all about making
connections and seeing patterns.”
Bruce Nussbaum, Creativity Intelligence

What is the “creative spark”?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogil/1507585665/

Everyone has it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainkobold/4812035672/

Umair Haque
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nextconference/3504568830/

“The sum total of human effort can add
up to not merely more, but to Better.”
Umair Haque, Betterness: Economics for Humans

Betterness? Betterness!!

(R)Evolution ≠ Revolution
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stargardener/7037360553/

The Foundation

Our role model: the coral polyp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drthompson/3689420515/

Builds rich environments
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Coral_Reef.jpg

Creates new land forms
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23300000/Coral-Reef-Torres-Strait-Island-australia-23340592-1600-1200.jpg

Tiny Habits
http://tinyhabits.com/

The structure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anetq/8543067943/

2 modifications
1. In the positive
2. Present tense

Anchor to a current habit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotobydave/333883245/

Congratulate yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clappstar/6297835482/

Feel Good = Neuroscience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cblue98/7254347346/

Big results
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anetq/8543069503/

From Spark to Flame

Two levels
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragmented/2734290118/

The Personal

Are you a terrorist to yourself?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/koomatuomio/4182554398/

“Obsessing about preventing bad
things from happening also prevents
good things from happening, or
sometimes prevents anything from
happening at all.”
Scott Berkun, The Year Without Pants

You are the gateway
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/4396790244/

It’s all about you being “self-ful”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/siutou_amy/2306794554/

Self-ful-ness
Caring for your own welfare so that you
are able to care for the welfare of
others.

The Oxygen Mask Theory

Love what you do. Do what you love.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmscottimd/616642026/

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to
do what you believe is great work. The
only way to do great work is to love
what you do.”
Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement speech

By nurturing your own spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aguslepe/5512044294/

You’ll begin to open up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rvm_71/5011353192/

And then magic happens

Self-ful transforms
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kara_allyson/5358611092/

To Self-less
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mazgrp/2050810720/

“One of the best ways to make yourself
happy is to make other people happy.
One of the best ways to make other
people happy is to be happy yourself.”
Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

How?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyefruit/1097398/

Recognize your brilliance
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathan_hamner/3386076488/

DO NOT focus on your weaknesses
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathan_hamner/3386076488/

You will only improve
10-15 %
(and it will be painful)
Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

Enjoy + Good at + Feeling Empowered
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3310336516/

= Empowered Play
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anieto2k/8216666102/

aka = Flow

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Shift into the habits you want to develop
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rene_ehrhardt/2762573549/

The Case of the Reluctant Speaker

“Who, me? Really? Sure…”
Amanda Dameron, upon being invited to keynote UX Week

“Me -- a speaker ? Oh, no.”
Jenna Foreman, upon being asked if she was a speaker at UX
Week

You’re about to be @Boonerang-ed

Know your goals, like Justin
Photo: Julian Harty

Homework: Write a talk description
Think of several topics you are a
bad-ass in. Write up 1-2 talk
descriptions based on your
interests and expertise.
Share them with your partner in one
month.

Homework: Tiny Habits to Nurture the Spark
Think of 1-2 tiny habits you will do to
nurture the sparks ignited at this
conference.

Check in date:
10 October 2014

Doing this is the first step

Recognize & support your spark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/2663137942/

This is about something greater
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangee/195050727/

Your attitude is a contagion

Happiness is contagious
Each happy friend
increased an individual's
probability of being
happy by 9 percent.
Even perfect strangers
three degrees of
separation away—
friends of friends of
friends—exerted a
significant uplifting
influence
Unhappy people at the
center of the network
are more likely than
those at the periphery to
become happy in the
future.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-10/ff_christakis?currentPage=all

Your change will spread beyond you
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles19/1330505/projects/5455539/30cbf8c45952cdcf360ef545b1dcaba9.jpg

The Social

We need to get our group on
Photo: Denise Jacobs

Mo’ people, mo’ creativity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/international-festival/3019543830/

Building 20 at MIT
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=all

Escape your silo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeemick/5106610165/

Listen. No, really listen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theory/3193684632/

Be the one that starts the process
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Coral_Reef.jpg

Be like Molly
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janbrasna/112338913/

Be the locus where ideas can mix & mingle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/7496803638/

“Getting people together is easy, but
having a culture of getting them to be
good at building upon each other’s
ideas is hard.”
David Kelly, Founder of IDEO

Over lunch in 1994
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc.

Monsters, Inc was born

“Creativity is social….Instead (of
brainstorming) you need ‘magic circles,’
small teams of people who trust each other,
are familiar with each other, and play
together.”
Bruce Nussbaum, Creativity Intelligence

Improve with Improv
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roel1943/5740295789/

Start where you are
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/3446600695/

Accept the offer + fully commit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgraths/3277839203

Use this structure

Make your partner(s) look good
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246066@N04/4597640798/

“Play is how we invent and
experiment.”
Josh Clarke, The Web Gets Real, UX Week

Let’s play!

Builds trust
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrote/2646295354/

Collaborations get increasingly stronger
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schipulites/5407946699/

Photo: Denise Jacobs
Eating my own dogfood: Improv class!

Homework: Tiny Habit of Creative Collaboration
Think of 1-2 tiny habits you will do
to cultivate a culture of creative
collaboration around you.

Check in date:
10 November 2014

Viva La (R)Evolution!

Creative power to the people!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickerbulb/53116195/

This is about imagination, plus
Photo: Denise Jacobs

Personal fulfillment (aka Happiness)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocait/2847866615/

Team and company creating Betterness

“Betterness can't happen if you're
spending your life churning out toxic
junk. It can only happen when more
meaningful work is done.”
Umair Haque, Betterness: Economics for Humans

Bigger than just yourself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4958540694/

It’s about You + Others
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7730492@N03/4957946157/

Eudaimonia = Human flourishing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/174718774/

“Happiness is not just a mood—it’s a
work ethic…..Happiness is actually the
precursor to success.”
Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven
Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and
Performance at Work

At the close of UX Week, with you
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moqub/2745092532/

Encourage the eco-system

Remember that we can create better together

“We don’t have to invent anything; it’s
already all around us.”
Josh Clarke, The Web Gets Real, UX Week

We can evolve creatively
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6005503875/

Make the switch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeathialy/3397362215/

“You have the power to…make the
world a better place to dwell.”
Amanda Dameron, Universal Design: Does it Matter? UX
Week

I am the lone nut dancing

Because I sincerely believe this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougbelshaw/4168593521/

that you want to see in the world
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20872388@N06/5572306965/

And finally…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/2609974180/

CreativityRevolution.com

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bit.ly/uxweek-cr

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Photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarronwalter/4629078087/

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